Scooters and Such

Denice and Duncan miss their bicycles back home. When the neighbour's grandchildren ride their bicycles on the road outside, Duncan will run alongside and race with them. Or he will push the bike from behind one of them.

I bought them these scooters so they can at least ride around the patio and burn off some excess energy. These scooters can be folded and if they are still in good shape by the time we leave, I will pack them in our bags and bring them home!

Did you notice the pair of shoes that Duncan is wearing in this picture? He sometimes like to put on Denice's shoes, especially those with heels, and wear them around the house, with Denice screaming after him telling him to take them off!

Those shoes actually belong to their older cousin, and they were already a little torn but Denice wanted them so the cousin gave them to her. She loves to hear the clacking sounds the heels make as she walks on the tiled floor. Bugs me, though!

* Change topic *

This morning I met a Chinese lady and her two kids at the supermarket. I had heard of her from my hairdresser and the owner of a coffe shop near the supermarket. Actually, I had already seen her eating with her children and relatives at another coffee shop one morning. I suspected she was the one my hairdresser told me about, but I didn't feel like butting into a family enjoying their breakfast!

The two kids gave her identity away. Who is she? Just another local woman married to an American and home for the summer vacation!

I really wanted to get to know her better but she seemed in a hurry. And didn't seem all that interested in getting to know a fellow Sarawakian living in the States! I was quite disappointed. She used to live in California but now lives in New Mexico.

Oh well.

Wifi Blues

I thought my internet woes were finally over ... what with the wifi booster that I'd built that allowed me to connect to the free wifi service provided by the city.

What I now realize is that anything that is "free" is not always reliable. Today is the fourth day where access to the internet is practically nil. Yesterday I was able to log on for a couple of hours and then it was gone. Today?

I had to borrow my brother's Celcom Broadband modem to log on to the internet. The same broadband service that I insulted much earlier! The Celcom Broadband connection was quite good today, much to my surprise!

My brother, in the next room, called on me to help him set up a dial-up connection on his new laptop. Ever since he opened an internet account with Celcom, and utilized the free wifi service, he did not bother with the dial-up service from TMNet. But today he had no choice, what with me hogging his Celcom Broadband modem, and the free wifi totally inaccessible! Fortunately, he never cancelled his internet account with TMNet. If all else fails, dial-up is still better than nothing. Unless of course you want to take the trouble to go to an internet cafe to get your internet "fix" for the day!

I don't know what the problem is with the free wifi service. Congestion? Maintenance? The wifi signal that my computer picks up is strong except that there was no connectivity to the internet.

How did we ever get by without the internet?

Improve your vision

I have always had good vision except now as I get older, I find myself relying more and more on reading glasses. Small prints are getting harder and harder to read without the help of my reading glasses.

If someone were to tell me that there are natural and proven ways to improve vision, I would be quite skeptical. If they were true, how come I have never heard of such a program before?

Well, in the first place, I have never had to worry about my vision, so it was only natural that I had never bothered to find out more about such natural vision correction if indeed they existed, right?

The all natural improve vision program that I am alluding to here involves special glasses and a computer software that work together to gently and effectively reduce eyestrain as well as correct other vision problems such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism and poor vision due to aging.

The following is what a satisfied customer had to say about the natural vision correction program:

I’m writing to say that I’m glad to finally have found a natural vision correction system that works. I tried a few others, but couldn’t bring myself to follow the exercise routines no matter how easy they made them sound. Your product intrigued me, and since you had an excellent guarantee I figured I couldn’t go wrong. And I was right. The software and glasses combination makes it a breeze. I’ve never felt like I’m working at all. Even better, my vision has improved dramatically. Thanks ImproveVision!
Tom Deveroe, Gibsons, B.C., Canada.

Does that not make you want to find out more about how to improve your vision especially when the program does not involve surgery?

I would be interested to find out what those special glasses are and what sort of computer software are involved in this all natural vision correction system! I would love to do something about my long-sightedness!

We met!

This trip back to Malaysia, I managed to meet up with a total of three blogger friends.


Can you guess who that blogger to my right is? He wants to remain anonymous but I can give you a hint!

During Lee's big and fancy New Year Eve's party, he offered his own security detail to guard us ladies who were decked in our very best finery and baubles!

He took us to a very nice golf club and as it happened it rained heavily when we got there. So we sat down to have lunch and drinks until the rain cleared.

I also met up with two Iban bloggers over the Gawai holidays. I wrote about my visit to them in my Iban blog.



Doug and I have never been to Bintangor but we drove from Saratok to Sarikei first and took the ferry across the river in Sarikei to Bintangor. Cuthess, my Iban blogger friend met us at a gas station in Bintangor and we followed her in our car.

She's getting married to a Canadian in August, and we plan on attending her wedding reception in Sibu. Good thing Doug will be back in Malaysia during that time.



We also stopped to visit Grace and her brother, Fred, in Sarikei on our drive back to Saratok. Their house is along the road and it was easy to find.

There are other blogger friends in Kuching that I would love to meet but unfortunately we won't be passing by Kuching this time round. But a couple will be at Cuthess' wedding reception in August and it will be an opportunity to meet up with them.

We hope to meet Zawi in Kelantan. Doug and I look forward to meeting him and visiting Kelantan. It has been more than 20 years since I was in Kelantan!

Our stop in KL this time will be short and there won't be enough time to meet up with anyone. I'd love to meet up with a couple of blogger friends if we had the time. Maybe next time, eh.

Food, Friends and Family

One of the best things about being home in Malaysia is the time spent with family and friends over a meal.

My youngest brother invited us out to dinner a couple of days before we made the long drive to the longhouse in Saratok.


One of my nieces and nephew watching the food being served.


Clams, one of my favorite dishes!


Belacan kangkong, another all time favorite!

My second brother also took us out for seafood dinner after we returned from the longhouse. It was also the day Doug left to return to California.



A bunch of friends also invited us to seafood dinner. It was great to meet up with these friends and fellowship over a delicious meal!



Another group of friends invited me for Chinese dinner at a hotel restaurant. This time I left the kids at their cousins place. For once it was nice to eat in peace without kids interrupting our meal!

When it was time to pick up the kids, Duncan objected and cried. He thought that I was depriving him of a sleep over at his cousins' place! It was a school night and the cousins wake up early and it was not convenient for them to have Duncan and Denice for a sleep over.

Lookee Here!

One of my favorite activities when I am home visiting my parents in Miri is to go for a shampoo at my favorite hair salon quite close to where my parents live. As is their custom at this salon, I was handed a couple of women's magazine for me to browse through while my hair is being shampooed.


This is the latest issue of Nona. I love flipping through Nona and looking at the pictures of the beautiful models and the rich and famous in Malaysia. Guess who was in one of the pictures featuring a Mother's Day do in KL?


Recognize the lady standing on the left? Yes, she is none other than our blogger friend, Ruby Ahmad! "Hey, I know her!" was what I told my hair dresser!

Er, does anyone know of some do I can be invited to so I can also appear in a Malaysian women's magazine? Heheh.

Happy Father's Day

Send this eCard !


To my father, and my kids' father - Happy Father's Day, with Love from all of us!

My internet connection sucks!

My internet connection SUCKS!

TMNet dial-up sucks. Celcom Broadband sucks. The alternate number provided by TM sucks. There is no DSL service available where my parents live. And my parents' home is a little too far from the nearest free Wi-Fi hotspot. So all in all, connecting to the internet is an endless frustration!

I am homesick for my reliable DSL (not the speediest, but reliable) from back home!

I have not been able to do much blogging ... things take forever to load, and then there is the stall ... nothing seems to move.

Arrgghh! The internet connection here SUCKS! Big time!

Religious Husband

A HUSBAND COMES HOME FROM CHURCH; HE GREETS HIS WIFE AND LIFTS HER UP. HE THEN CARRIED HER AROUND THE HOUSE.

THE WIFE WAS SO SURPRISED AND SHE ASKED 'DID THE BISHOP PREACH ABOUT BEING ROMANTIC'?

THE HUSBAND SAID, 'NO, HE SAID WE MUST CARRY OUR BURDENS AND SORROWS'.

Happy Mother's Day

To my mother, the woman who raised me, loved me and made sure I had the best. Now that I am a mother too, I appreciate your love and your sacrifice even more.

May God bless you, and grant you a long, healthy and happy life. I miss you and I love you! Happy Mother's Day!


Send this eCard !

What have you done for your marriage today?

That was the question I heard in a radio pro-marriage ad by a Catholic group this morning. Among the answers given by the many different voices in the ad were "I gave him a big, long hug this morning", "I called her at work today", and other answers I don't quite remember. I wished I could though, because they were good answers - answers that were actually little acts to show your affection for each other and actions that keep a couple's marriage strong.

What have I done for my marriage today? Er, I was in a bad mood last night and using that as an excuse I gave my husband the cold shoulder. I did not even respond to the morning goodbye kiss or the "I love you".

The day's not yet over, and there's still time for me to redeem myself, eh!

I am thankful and blessed to be married to a man who puts up with my many selfish acts. It has been a while since he asked me if I would do it all over again, marry him, that is.

Here's my answer for him today. Yes, I would. I would marry you all over again, warts and all!

National Grump Out Day

May 7th is National Grump Out Day. That means for 24 hours, no grumpiness, no grousing, no complaining, no swearing etc.

Today was the first I heard of the existence of a Grump Out Day. I heard about it on the Paul Harvey show this morning, which came on at 8.00 a.m., and when I heard it, I had already shown my impatience with my children! Yes, so early in the morning, and I was already snapping at my children!

Put that grumpiness to a lack of sleep!

I still have half the day to recover my good spirits and refrain from being grumpy, eh!

Home for Gawai

Yesterday I called my friend who is working in Bintangor, Sarawak. Bintangor used to be called Binatang, and because of the meaning of the word in Malay it was changed to Bintangor many years ago. The only claim to fame that Bintangor has, as far as those of us who don't live there are concerned, is that it has one of the oldest teacher training colleges in the state.

I have invited this friend to join me and my family to the Gawai (harvest festival) celebrations at my parents longhouse which is located in Saratok. Saratok is not that far from Bintangor and she can easily take the bus and I will pick her up from the bus station.

The two little girls are my nieces who took part in the beauty contest for children.

I don't think this friend, who is Chinese, has ever spent the night in a longhouse before! It will most certainly be quite an experience for her especially with the noise and merry making that goes on all night during the Gawai celebrations.

Doug taking part in the blow pipe competition at the long house.

Gawai celebrations begin on the evening of May 31. My parents and my family will drive to Saratok from Miri on May 28. It will be a long drive but at least this time, we won't be caught in a bottle neck in Durin where in the past we had to catch the ferry across the river. There's a bridge over the river at Durin now. A few days before the 31st is the busiest time on the road because many people are also making their way to their various longhouses, and the bridge will most certainly help us arrive at our destination a lot quicker.

I am so looking forward to celebrating the Gawai celebrations with my kids. The last time the kids were at the longhouse, Denice had just turned one and Duncan was 10 months old. It was not a happy time for Duncan because he fell ill with a fever the day after we arrived there.

Hopefully, this time around they will be stronger and able to take the changes in the weather better.

Food Supplements for a friend and family

Yesterday I ordered about a hundred dollars worth of products from my favorite online food supplement store to bring back to Malaysia.

I ordered a bottle of borage oil for my mother to add to the two I'd ordered earlier, and the rest of the stuff was mainly for diabetic care. I want to give one of my friends, who was recently diagnosed with diabetes, something to help her better control her blood sugar, something like gymnema sylvestre and banaba. I bought a bottle each of the two products.

Previously, I love to give away Vitamin C and Vitamin E to friends in Malaysia, but this time since those bottles of stuff for my mother and friend already weigh a few pounds, I think I'll skip the gift giving to the others!

Hey, have you read one of my latest entries on my health blog? You should read about how diabetes could be the result of intestinal dysfunction and how diabetics who went through gastric bypass procedures had experienced remission in their diabetes! Great news!

You know, all these remind me of how priceless our health is, and how we should take good care of our health because when it is gone, no amount of money is going to be able to get it back for us!

Blogging Addiction

I can't believe that in about two and a half weeks we'll be flying to Malaysia! I, of course, am excited about the thought of being with my parents and other family members. We'll be going to my parents' longhouse for the Gawai celebrations a few days after we arrived in Sarawak, and will be Sarawak for close to three months. Just me and the kids. Doug will return to California after two and half weeks, and come back to fetch us some time in August.

What I am not looking forward to is being away too long from my computer and my blogging activities! Haha, is that a confession from a blogging addict?

When we were at Disneyland about two weeks ago, we stayed at a hotel that had no wi-fi access. I brought my lap top with me, and I turned it on once. There was wi-fi access available from the neighboring hotel and even though my wireless modem intercepted the connection I couldn't get online because the connection required an access password! What a bummer!

The next hotel we stayed at, there was free wi-fi access and no password required either! Wished there was a hotel like that near the hotel we stayed at while in Disneyland! I managed to post one entry on one of my blogs while in Los Angeles. And Doug was able to get a fix of his news addiction while we were staying at that hotel too.

When we get to Malaysia I am thinking of getting an account with one of the cell phone companies that offers internet services. I don't really know how this works but I think Akmal has the answer to this question. I remember reading his recommendation to Daphne.

I don't feel like tying up my parents' phone line to get on the internet. Of course I don't have an internet account but my brother who still lives with my parents does. Where my parents live, broadband is still not available. Considering the amount I can spend on the internet, a broadband account would have been the best deal for everyone!

I toyed with the idea of getting a new laptop because the current one I have does not have a big hard drive and neither does it have a DVD writer. Doug just bought me a new desk top so .... no go with the new laptop!

For now, what matters is that the old laptop still works for my blogging and internet surfing activities, right?

Guitar

Last week, while we were walking along Hollywood Boulevard in LA, we walked into a store that sold all kinds of things including the guitar. Duncan wanted to buy a small guitar and a small saxophone. I told him to wait till he started some music lessons before buying him some musical instruments.

There was a guitar that cost only $20. Wow, so cheap! Later on Doug thought he should go back to the store and buy the guitar. After all at $20 who cares if he knew how to play it or not?

Then yesterday at the flea market, I saw some really nice guitars for $45 and an electric acoustic one for about $100. I was quite tempted to get one! I know how to play the guitar a little .. just the easy songs with easy chords!

I sometimes joked with Doug that I was sorry that he didn't know how to play any musical instruments! I told him I always thought that the man I married was going to be musically inclined and instead I got him!

Here's Australian acoustic guitar virtuoso Tommy Emmanuel performing Angelina.

National Day of Prayer

The first Thursday in May is National Day of Prayer. President Harry S. Truman signed a bill proclaiming the National Day of Prayer into law on April 17, 1952.

My church was open all day today for anyone who wanted to come in and pray.

The National Day of Prayer also coincided with my weekly Bible Study with a group of church ladies. After our regular study we spent about 10 minutes praying together over the prayer items listed in the National Day of Prayer leaflet.

*****

2008 Prayer for Our Nation

Dr. Ravi Zacharias
2008 Honorary Chairman, National Day of Prayer Task Force



Holy Father, in a world where so many are hungry,
You have given us food in abundance;

In a world where so many are hurting,
You offer to bind up our wounds;

In a world where so many are lonely,
You offer friendship to every heart;

In a world longing for peace,
You offer hope.

Yet, we are so stubborn and resistant.
Have mercy upon us, Lord.

Our nation is at a crossroads this year;
we look to you to be our strength and shield.

Please give us the guidance to elect one who will honor you
and to respond to the wisdom from above
so that our hope may be renewed and our blessings be treasured.

In God's holy name.

Disneyland - The Washer Player

We were in Disneyland last week. There was live music in different parts of the park and on the second day we were there, there was a group of musicians playing country style music. They invited the kids watching them to participate in the music playing and Duncan was given a washer to play.

Duncan's the kid on second right, wearing red jacket and white hat. Denice was not brave enough to join the merry music making.

An Evening in Morro Bay

Last week, we spent two nights in Nipomo at my in-laws' en route to Disneyland. We had a couple of friends from Malaysia with us. We didn't do much on the evening we arrived except find a restaurant where we could eat dinner.

The next day, however, we brought them to Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo and ended the day with a quick visit to Morro Bay.

I am pleasantly surprised at how well these pictures turned out. It was already getting dark and I took these pictures without using the flash on my camera.

The picture above is of Morro Rock, the remains of a dormant volcano.



Fishing boats and yachts moored on the bay.

I used the flash on my camera to take this picture of Duncan. Look at how dark the background looks.

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